There is a lot going on this week in the lead up to September 17th. First off, for some inspiration check out all the solidarity movements around the world.

Meetings & Training:

• USDOR is hosting non violent civil disobedience training Friday @ 6:30. See the details and location on the calendar page or on USDOR calendar.
• There will be a Tactical Committee Meeting Wednesday, 7pm Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn
• There will be Art & Culture meetings Tuesday and Thursday to discuss activities. Learn more on the calendar page
• Time's Up will be hosting critical mass style ALL NIGHT rides though the Wall st. area. Meet at Tompkins sq park at 7pm Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (9/16-18) to join the ride. More info on their calendar page
• There is an event for NY Students Rising September 16, Friday 5:00pm Hunter College
• NYC General Assembly calendar
• There will be a Open General Assembly September 17th, Saturday 3:00pm at Chase Manhattan Plaza.

Resources:

• NYCGA - September 17th Legal Fact Sheet - Download PDF flyer
• USDOR has created an crowd source map for the occupation.
• USDOR also has legal information reviewed by the National Lawyers Guild. Check out the USDOR resources page. Also take a look at their tactics cheat sheet
• The General Assembly, in association with a number of activists around the world, has set up a live "TV" channel called Global Revolution
• The New York City General Assembly has a website up with minutes from the 9/10 meeting.
• Check out the Occupy Wall Street subreddit for discussion and info.

Important stuff:

• HOTLINE FOR ARRESTS September 17, National Lawyers Guild: (212) 679-6018. If you will be at the action write this down on your arm. It was recommended to call them if you hear of an arrest or if you are arrested

Things you can help with:

• The Food Committee is working on feeding people at the occupation, if you can PLEASE DONATE. Contact CunderscoreG@gmail.com to see how you can help food committee
• If you are in the NYC area and can host fellow brothers and sisters, someone is gathering volunteers to help provide access to board & bathe logistical spaces for out-of-towners click here to view the google doc
• Contact the NYCPD expressing your solidarity with the protesters and urging the police to exercise restraint. Also, tell them the world is watching. And thank them for all their hard work. Email form for the NYPD police commissioner. Contact the mayor
• Spread the word! Media kits: Print fliers (PDF) & Online fliers (PDF)

More to come... Please add your information in the comments! remember you can create nice links like so: [link text](url)

Music, arts, and orientation guides will greet you at 12pm in Bowling Green Park on Saturday. Bowling Green Park is in the financial district of Manhattan.

More details soon.

Question about OccupyWallStreet? Wondering about the plan for Sept. 17th? Out-of-town and want to be in-the-loop? Email organizers from NYC at 9.17occupywallstreet@gmail.com

Several people have asked: if I can't make it to New York City for the occupation, but still want to help, what can I do?

One of many answers is to support those who are at the occupation on Wall Street by calling various delivery places in the area and having food sent to the site. Not only will you be providing food to hungry people, you will also be supporting local establishments as opposed to corporate chains. A list has been compiled of several pizzerias, health food places, and delis around the occupation area from which you can call and order food. The list can be found at here.

Finally, for those who ARE able to make it to the occupation, there will be food available that we will have bought through your generous donations. However, we'd also like to ask that people bring a little bit of food themselves, enough that can theoretically be shared with at least three people. Not only will it help us hold out for longer, it will go a long way in helping you get to know each other a little better as well.

Contemporary society is commodified society, where the economic transaction has become the dominant way of relating to the culture and artifacts of human civilization, over and above all other means of understanding, with any exceptions being considered merely a temporary holdout as the market swiftly works on ways to monetize those few things which stubbornly remain untouched. Perhaps the most pernicious aspect of this current setup is that it has long ago co-opted the very means of survival within itself, making our existence not an inherent right endowed to us by the simple fact of our humanity but a matter of how much we're all worth -- the mere act of being alive has a price tag. Some pay it easily. Others pay for it with their submission. Others still can't pay it at all. Regardless, though, like cars, TVs and barrels of oil, our lives are commodities to be bought and sold on the open market amid the culture of ruthlessness and desperation that has arisen to accommodate it. This is the natural consequence of a society built around entities whose purpose it is to always, always minimize costs and maximize profits. It is the philosophy of growth for the sake of growth, the same ideology that drives a cancer cell. An economy in a steady state is not healthy. It needs to expand, constantly, perpetually.

Of course, nothing can expand forever. The second law of thermodynamics tell us this much at least. But that doesn't mean the market won't try. It's not enough that a soft drink becomes the dominant soda, it must become the dominant beverage, period. It's not enough that people build some things out of a certain material, it must be the only thing anyone ever builds anything out of, ever. It's not enough to make pills for the ailments from which people already seek relief, pills must be made for problems that people didn't even know existed until a commercial told them to ask their doctors about it. We all know this course is not sustainable, but there will be great damage done before this point is reached.

The people coming to Wall Street on September 17 come for a variety of reasons, but what unites them all is the opposition to the principle that has come to dominate not only our economic lives but our entire lives: profit over and above all else. Those that do not embrace this principle: prepare to be out-competed. They will lose the race to the bottom and the vulture will swoop down to feast. It is indicative of a deep spiritual sickness that has gripped civilization, a sickness that drives the vast deprivation, oppression and despoliation that has come to cover the world.

The world does not have to be this way. A society of ruthlessness and isolation can be confronted and replaced with a society of cooperation and community. Cynics will tell us this world is not possible. That the forces arrayed against us have won and will always win and, perhaps, should always win. But they are not gods. They are human beings, just like us. They are a product of a society that rewards the behavior that has led us to where we are today. They can be confronted. What's more, they can be reached. They just need to see us. See beyond the price tags we carry.

And if they are gods? Then we shall be Prometheus. And we shall laugh as we are lashed to the stone to await the eagle.